Shoe sole



March 7, 1939. A. FISCH 2,150,057

SHOE SOLE Filed May 5, 1938 A lil: 1

Jiu/enf ar AI zlr fisc/5 Patented Mar. 7,1939

UNITED STATES,

SHOE

SOLE

Arthur Fisch, Heidelberg, Germany Application May 5, 1938, Serial No.206,244

Germany January 8, 1938 .8 Claims.

' The invention relates to footwear and has for an object to provideimprovements therein which render the footwear particularly comfortable.

Normal boots'and shoes incorporate rigid supporting means to support thearches of the foot, which, however, often break through after a shortwearing or lose their form in some Way, so that they are no longer ahelp but rather the cause of much discomfort.

The natural rolling of the foot from the heel to the tip can only beensured by a sole which bears correctly against the foot and givescomplete liberty of movement to the foot. Thereby the sinews and theligaments of the foot and leg bones which carry out their naturalfunctions are reinforced and remain elastic and are then capable oftheir maximum effort. To come as near as possible to this ideal state isthe aim of the invention. Particularly, the invention seeks to provideimprovements in house shoes which usually do not allow rigid supportsand heels, as for example in cosy shoes and slippers, due to the natureof the material from which they are manufactured; hitherto it has beentried to overcome these inconveniences by omitting the heels andsupports for the ankles, which have been found extremely disadvantageousfor the wearer.

The invention overcomes these defects by the arrangements describedbelow.

A sole carried out in accordance with the invention, from rubber orsimilar material, is represented in the accompanying diagrammaticdrawing by way of example, in which:

Figure 1 shows the rubber sole in section on the line I-I of Figure 2. A

Figure 2 is a view of the rubber sole in top plan with the uppercovering removed.

Figure 3 shows the sole in section on the,lii'1e\` III-HI of Figures land 2 after the uppe has been attached.

Figure 4 shows the sewing-on edge with an upper sewn on in the initialposition to the sole.

Figure 5 shows the sewing edge after the turning of the upper.

In accordance with the invention the sole co'nsists in the followingparts: The heel a, the arch support b, the metatarsal arch support c andthe toe part d. The heel a is composed elastically of hollow cells I,'and is comfortable to the foot.

The arch support b has at its under side a number of integral studs orprojections 2,i and on its upper side comprises arch supporting ribs l3,which are formed resiliently, being integral ribs of rubber. Themetatarsal arch support c which conforms to the natural arch of the foot(Cl. 36-29) l is also, as can be seen at 4, elastically sub-divided byWebs. The studs or projections 2 bear on the ground during walking andassist in lengthening the life of the sole. As the studs are separatefrom one another, they in no way prevent the sole from flexing asrequired by the act of walking. The toe of the sole is also made moreresilient by webforming cells 5, whilst between this part and thecommencement of the arch support c the sole is formed at its innersurface with;

transverse corrugations 6. 'Ihese corrugations 6, as shown in Figure 2,also extend along one side of the sole to where the heel part acommences leaving the webs 3 and 4 for supporting the longitudinal andmetatarsal arches of the foot, which latter is shown in Figure 3. Thesole is provided at its upper surface with a resilient covering orinsertion I2, which by virtue of the formation above described, assumesa shape natural to the foot and enables it to' obtain a proper gripduring walking.

The stable heel a brings `the foot in its normall position and results,in connection with the ex .Y

ternal support 2, the longitudinal arch support 3, the metatarsal archsupport 4 and the elastic bearing 5 of the toe part-contrary to thehitherto known form and manner of manufacture of cosy shoes andslippersin a favourable mounting of the foot in all respects whereby theabove mentioned defects are eliminated.

The arrangements in accordance' with the invention are also applicableadvantageously in other types of manufacture, for example in shoes whichare sewn throughout and in which the upper worked with 'its marginturned outwardly while on a last so that a ange is created to which thetread sole is thenl sewed, and also in shoes provided with unvulcanizedsoles. The inner' surface of the rubber sole which faces the foot, withthe exception of the sewing-on margin 1, is provided with hollow spaces,in order to give to the foot a soft smooth resting to favour the airingand to reduce the weight.

The making of shoes with heel and arch supportscannot generally be-carried out in accordance with the known method of sewing on the soleportion-to the upper portion without the employment of complicated andexpensive machinery. In the present invention, the attachment of theouter sole, which is provided with heel and arch supports, is effectedwith parts outturnedA and the upper inside out and the shoe is turnedright side out after sewing which enables the sewing on of the upper ofthe shoe to be accomplished with the simplest sewing machine. This isaccomplished by placing'the sole upon the sewing machine with itsfoot-contacting surface facing upward (Figure 4). The laterallyextending sewing-on margin rests then entirely flat upon the sewingtable. Afterwards the upper of the shoe is while turned inside outconnected with the sewing-on edge, the juxtaposition of thesewing-onedge and the upper is such that onlythe sewing-on edge andupper come incontact with the pressing foot and the feeder of the machine. The raisedparts, such as heels, arch supports etc. do not come in contact at allwith the sewing device itself. Then the upper 1s turned inside out. (SeeFig. 5.)

Hitherto, because of the sewing methods used, heavy weight materialshave been necessary. In the arrangement of the present invention,however, any weight material may be employed in view of the position ofthe sewing-on margin with respect to the machine.

A special advantage of the carrying out of the seaming edge inaccordance with the present invention consists in the fact that theupper of the boot here can be fastened by the simplest-stitchingoperation.

Moreover, this sole prevents'the bulge at the bottom of the shoe seen inthe usual turn-shoe work which leads to foot troubles. Furthermore, thissole prevents the flat resting of the foot, leading to fiat feet, whichordinarily results from the lack of a heel. Usually when there is noheel, the weight is thrown backwards when the foot is at rest. Thedisadvantages brought about by the shifting' of the weight are notremoved by the mere insertion of a wedge underneath the heel. Foralthough the wedge lessensA some of the shifting of weight, itnevertheless permits the longitudinal arch of the foot to swing freelywithout any support, s'o that the arch falls.

All these disadvantages are overcome by the sole formed in accordancewith the present invention.

I claim: Y

1. For footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber andcomprising a heel portion, a shank portion and a sole portion, upwardlyand a metatarsal arch support conforming to the natural arch of the footand being sub-fdivided by webs extending from the arch supportbto the 2.For footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber and comprisinga heel por-A tion, a shank portion and a sole portion, upwardly directedribs formed on the heel portion and the shank portion to provide an aircushion thereover, and a pluralityof downwardly directed vstuds formedintegrally upon the shank portion and arranged with their extremitiesdisposed substantially in co-planar relationship to the under surface ofthesole and the heel portions, the toe portion of the sole havingupwardly directed ribs formed integrally thereon to constitute anaircushion, said ribs being graduated in height from a maximum at theend portion rearwardly, whereby the toe of the wearer is resilientlysupported in an elevated position.

3. For footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber andcomprising a. heel portion, a shank portion and a sole portion, upwardlydirected ribs fonned lon the heel portion and the shankportion toprovide an air cushion tion, ay shank portion and asole portion, the

lower surface of which latter is substantially fiat, upwardly directedribs formed on the front of the sole portion to provide an air cushionserving to elevate the wearers toes, a plurality of downwardly directedstuds formed integrally upon the shank portion and arranged with theirextremities disposed substantially in the same plane as the lowersurface of the fiat sole portion, and a metatarsal arch supportconforming to the natural arch of the foot and being sub-divided by websextending from the arch support to the sole.

5. For footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber andcomprising a. heel portion, a shank portion and a sole portion, thelower surface of which latter is substantially flat, upwardly directedribs formed on the front of the sole portion toprovide an air cushionserving to elevate the wearers toes, and a plurality of downwardlydirected studs formed integrally upon the shank portion and arrangedwith their extremities disposed substantially in the same plane as thelower surface of the flat sole portion, the inner surfacelof ,the soleprovided with transverse corrugations extending along one side of thesole to where the heel part commences.

6. For footwear a combined sole Aand heel formed from rubber andcomprising a heel portion, a shank portion and a sole portion, the lowersurface of which latter is substantially fiat, upwardly directed ribsformed on the front of the sole portion lto provide an air cushionserving to elevate the wearers toes, a plurality of downwardly directedstuds formed integrally upon the shank portion and arranged withtheirextremities disposed'substantially in the same plane as the lowersurface of the flat sole portion, a longitudinal arch support and ametatarsal arch support conformingy to the natural arch 'of the foot andbeing sub-divided by webs forming `cells and extending from themetatarsal arch support to where the heel commences.

"I. For` footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber andcomprising a heel portion, a shank portion and a sole portion,`the lowersurface of which latter is substantially dat. upwardly directed ribsformed on the front of the sole portion to provide an air cushionserving to elevate the wearers toes, and a plurality of downwardlydirected studs formed integrally upon the shank portion and arrangedwith their extremities disposed substantially in the same plane as thelower surface of the dat sole portion, the inner surface of the soleprovided with transverse corrugations extending along one side of thesole to where the heel part commences, the heel part and the shankportion having resilient websconsisting of cells.

8. For footwear a combined sole and heel formed from rubber andcomprising a heel portion, a shank portion andt a sole portion, the

' to resiiiently support the wearers ts in an elevated position, and aplurality of downwardly directed studs formed integrally upon the archsupport and arranged with their extremities disposed substantially inthe same plane as the lower surface of the at sole portion.

ARTHUR FISCI-I.

